Many people aren’t sure what inspires them. That’s what prompted me to build inspiring.careers in the first place, and it was just a one-card layout. My thinking was, “Either you’re inspired by this, or you’re not and you can move on.”
Quickly, I learned that people like to browse & discover for a while before jumping onto something. That’s why we pivoted the software tool on inspiring.careers to show many companies at once, with simple statements explaining their impact:
Discovering things that inspire you is a process.
It’s a winding road, but you will discover inspiration if you commit to driving on that road for long enough.
Start by going to a site like inspiring.careers/companies and looking at the companies listed. In the Filters column, choose at least one Industry that is interesting to you. Perhaps you’re aware of the effects of climate change. Or maybe you’ve had personal experience with social justice issues.
Let your intuition guide you!
As the company list narrows down, read each impact statement and then pause for a minute. Observe how it makes you feel. Try to envision the “ripple effects,” the benefits that can occur beyond what the company is doing.
Propel is a great example:
What happens when low-income people improve their financial health? Man…
- they’re less stressed, which leads to better relationships with their families
- they feel more confident in taking risks, which leads to opportunities
- they can “pay it forward” to others who need to improve their financial health, too
- … … … ???
To me, this is incredibly inspiring. The second- and third-order effects are super palpable! But the important thing to know is that…
You’re inspired by whatever YOU are inspired by.
Remember: It doesn’t matter what you’re inspired by. Everyone’s different, and it’s completely valid to not be inspired by Propel, and instead feel inspiration from something else.
As long as you’re discovering, you’ll find what inspires YOU. And when you pursue opportunities to do work that inspires you, you’ll do better work, make more money, have more energy, and feel happier about your life overall.
So what are you waiting for? 😀 Start finding inspiration: